OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Kim Jong Un wants a historic, high-stakes meeting as soon as possible and suggested the North Korean dictator has been “very open” and “very honorable,” a sharply different assessment of a leader he once denounced as “Little Rocket Man.” The U.S. and North Korea have been negotiating a summit between Trump and Kim in May or June to broker a deal on Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

A federal judge ruled Tuesday against the Trump administration’s decision to end a program protecting some young immigrants from deportation, calling the Department of Homeland Security’s rationale against the program “arbitrary and capricious.” U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in Washington wrote that the decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, “was unlawful and must be set aside.” Bates gave DHS 90 days to “better explain its view that DACA is unlawful.”

His nomination in peril, Veterans Affairs nominee Ronny Jackson fought Tuesday to convince lawmakers of his leadership abilities as more details of accusations against him emerged, ranging from repeated drunkenness to a toxic work environment as he served as a top White House doctor. Trump sent mixed signals about his choice to lead the sprawling veterans’ agency, suggesting during a news conference that Jackson may want to withdraw because of unfair scrutiny. The president privately urged Jackson to keep fighting to win Senate confirmation.

Trump’s escalating dispute with China over trade and technology is threatening jobs and profits in working-class communities where his “America First” agenda hit home. The Commerce Department has received more than 2,400 applications from companies seeking waivers from the administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which may result in duty payments of millions of dollars for larger businesses.